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How circularity adds business value
By proactively embedding circularity into our operations and product design, we can better anticipate and navigate potential regulatory challenges, such as bans on materials or products due to their environmental profile. This approach prepares us for evolving regulations and helps us stay ahead of competition.
Taking a forward-thinking approach not only protects our market access and keeps our product portfolio diverse, but also drives cost reductions and greater efficiency across our business. It also allows us to meet the rising demand for sustainable products and can strengthen our company’s reputation.
By embedding circularity, we position ourselves for sustainable growth and ongoing success.
Why is “Circularity” a strategic priority?
Strategic approach
We strive to preserve resources, reduce product-related waste, and tackle inappropriate disposal of our products, including littering. Our aim is to design smart, impactful strategies across our product portfolio and packaging.
Cigarettes
We're investing in innovative research to replace plastic filters with plastic-free alternatives. At the same time, we are working to prevent cigarette butt littering by encouraging responsible consumer behavior through awareness campaigns and empowering people to dispose of butts properly, no matter the material.
Smoke-free electronic devices
These devices consist of heat-not-burn and e-vapor products and, as they evolve, we aim to further embed eco-friendly principles into their design.
We improve performance and durability, use recycled materials where possible, and make products more repairable and recyclable. We also aim to promote the proper disposal and recycling of devices and materials.
Smoke-free consumables
Our range of smoke-free consumables includes heated tobacco units, e-vapor disposables, e-liquid cartridges for e-vapor products, and oral nicotine products.
We are actively seeking ways to reduce plastic in our heat-not-burn consumables, which is the product with the highest use of plastic after cigarettes in our consumables portfolio. We also run take-back programs to help consumers return used consumables so that waste management is responsible when feasible. As our portfolio evolves, we plan to conduct assessment of disposal practices to create effective strategies for end-of-life management.
Packaging
We design our packaging for recyclability, seeking to use only the materials needed to protect product quality. We aim to lower our carbon footprint by reducing packaging material, size, and weight.
However, with oral nicotine products in our product portfolio, this means our plastic footprint for packaging is growing, since these use rigid, single-use propylene cans that present greater sustainability challenges than our usual fiber-based packaging.
We use Life-Cycle Analysis (LCA) to study the carbon footprint of a selection of our products from start to finish.
Our policies
These publicly available documents are complemented by additional internal policies, including PMI’s Ecodesign Guidelines and guidance on the implementation of local consumable take-back programs.
2030+ aspirations
Smoke-free consumables
We aim to commercialize at least one smoke-free consumable with a plastic-free filter for each of our heat-not-burn technologies by 2030.*
Cigarettes
We maintain our aspiration to have at least 80 percent of our cigarette shipment volume covered by markets with anti-littering programs in place every year through 2030.
Electronic devices
We aim to have at least 10 percent of recycled content included in our smoke-free electronic device portfolio by 2030.*
We will begin reporting performance toward newly established targets (marked with an asterisk) as of next year’s Value Report and will provide methodological details in our Non-financial KPI Hub.
This online content about our Value Report should be read in conjunction with PMI’s Value Report 2025. This report includes metrics that are subject to uncertainties due to inherent limitations in the nature and methods for data collection and measurement. The precision of different collection and measurement techniques may also vary. This report includes data or information obtained from external sources or third parties. Unless otherwise indicated, the data contained herein cover our operations worldwide for the full calendar year 2025 or reflect the status as of December 31, 2025. Where not specified, data comes from PMI financials, nonfinancials, or estimates.
Unless explicitly stated, the data, information, and aspirations in this report do not incorporate PMI’s Wellness unit, Aspeya. Regarding the Swedish Match acquisition, completed late 2022, unless otherwise indicated, this report includes information pertaining to its sustainability performance. Please also refer to "About this report" on page 3 of the PMI’s Value Report 2025 for more information. Aspirational targets and goals do not constitute financial projections, and achievement of future results is subject to risks, uncertainties and inaccurate assumptions, as outlined in our forward-looking and cautionary statements on page 142. In PMI’s Value Report 2025 and in related communications, the terms “materiality,” “material,” and similar terms are defined in the referenced sustainability standards and are not meant to correspond to the concept of materiality under the U.S. securities laws and/or disclosures required by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
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